My dirty life and times.

August 2004

August 31, 2004

Rooting for the Democrats is a bit like rooting for the Mets: you maintain a strong allegiance to the uniform, to the years of struggle, to the great heroes of the past. But despite some early promise, this year's team now looks weak, a sad repetition of previous campaigns. So who's running in 2008? Is Terry McAuliffe the Fred Wilpon of national politics? Is John Kerry a senatorial Art Howe? Sure, KE04 looked like the feel-good hit of the season a month or so ago, but so did the Metties. Now they're both sinking like stones. Yeah, this is just a weak, little rant - it's not a great week for Mets fans and Democrats. And Kerry still has a terrific shot if he takes the gloves off, slims down the message, and gets to slugging - much like he did last winter. The Bush negatives remain high, and the issues are still there. But like the Mets, Kerry's gone 0-for-August. He needs to come out hitting - and hitting hard, just like the Yankees, er, Republicans do. It ain't the ninth, but the early innings are over...

August 29, 2004

As Republicans gather in New York, many commentators will trace the rise of American conservatism from Barry Goldwater to William Buckley to Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush. The common wisdom goes like this: conservatism has captured the U.S. electorate, climbing over the tired, embittered carcass of liberalism. Democrats go to extremes to portray themselves as centrist, non-liberals because Americal liberalism is dead. Indeed, spirited conservatives have pushed the entire political debate to the right - what was centrist is liberal, what was right is center.

This is a lie - told by uninformed, swallowed by the incurious.

The United States has never been a more liberal country than it is today, three nights before President Bush is nominated again by a "conservative" Republican Party. The conservative movement has failed, destroyed by the imbibing of that most intoxicating beverage, power.

We can argue symbols, of course. (The phony marriage amendment comes to mind). And we should argue about policy. (Iraq). But answer these litmus test questions. Is the Federal government more powerful than it was five, 10, 20, 50 years ago? Does it collect more and spend more? Does it regulate much less? Have reproductive rights been rolled back? Do we spend less on education than we ever have in the past? Are we really more culturally conservative?

No. We're not. We're more tolerant, more diverse. Government spends more; even the too-thin social safety net has grown under Republican leadership in the form of a massive prescription entitlement program. We still regulate our capital markets. Yes, there is a large, political important bloc of religious conservative voters who believe they're powerful because one party bends over to scoop up their votes. But as the smarter leaders of the religious conservatives understand, they don't get a heck of a lot for their electoral support - a few words, almost no legislation. And the country grows more socially liberal by the second.

Look who's speaking at the Garden this week - social liberals who preside over big government states and cities. And then the faux conservative, deficit-spending, government-expanding, Federal-power-grabbing, privacy-smashing incumbent. Read David Brooks' excellent piece in today's New York Times Magazine on the failure of pure conservatism in the Republican Party. Here's an excerpt:

In 1994, there were 4,126 ''earmarks'' -- special spending provisions -- attached to the 13 annual appropriations bills. In 2004, there were around 14,000. Real federal spending on the Departments of Education, Commerce and Health and Human Services has roughly doubled since the Republicans took control of the House in 1994. This is a governing majority without shape, coherence or discipline.

I believe that we can do better - by extending the liberalism that both Democrats and Republicans embrace in spirit, if not in name. Given our wealth and position in the world, the United States owes a certain minimum standard of living to each American, and a certain minimum standard of opportunity. I guess this is what makes me a Democrat. This is not to say there isn't a massive gulf between the parties in terms of policy, leadership, and a vision for the future of the country. But given the spending habits of the GOP over the last decade of Congressional and Presidential power, isn't this really the set-up these days:

August 22, 2004

They took my father to the hospital early last week with tightness in his chest. He'd had some heart trouble before and it was a tense few days for my family as we waited to find out what the real story was. On Friday, he had a procedure to clear two clogged arteries. The experience gave me a new-found appreciation of modern technology: the wireless heart monitor he wore, the clear picture of the arteries, the special microscopic drill that spun at 140,000 times per second inside his heart, wielded with incredible dexterity by a cardiologist.

It all turned out very well, and Dad is already home and feeling terrific. But the few hours spent waiting in the hospital Friday night - and a couple of other items that I'll deal with in a second - had me thinking about the nature of modern medicine and privacy. You see, I really don't believe much in privacy in the modern world, although I continue to value it, much like my own youth, which has also vanished, ne'er to return.

The privacy wars are over; indeed, we're living in a new age where almost everything we do - what we buy, what we read, what we watch - is tracked in vast databases. Despite the hype over the Federal HIPAA privacy act, all you have to do is spend a few hours in the cardiac unit of a busy medical center to understand that it's really just that: hype. It was all too easy to learn the medical details on half a dozen heart patients just during the visit.

Yes, patient records are protected in theory. But there are unintentionally hilarious exceptions that prove that, well, you really can't legislate privacy any better than you can morality. Frequent commentator Tom K. sent me this link, the story of a man who lost his driving privileges after his doctor reported to police that he drank a six-pack of beer a day. According to this poor guy, "The only crime I committed was getting sick and telling the doctor the truth.''

There is evidence as well - anecdotal of course, but supported by the actions of people I respect - that Americans tend to value privacy less then we, collectively, believe we do. Just this week, both Jane Pauley and Jason Chervokas revealed publicly their struggles with bi-polar disorder. As many of you know, Jason is my former business partner and particular friend; indeed, we've conversed nearly daily for more than a decade. I think you'll find his confession eloquent:

It was easy for me to accept that I was depressed, in fact, it was impossible for me to deny. But it was hard for me to accept the notion of bipolar disorder. First of all, if I was hypomanic, the hypomania seemed to represent the best of myself. Yes I experienced flying ideas and periods of increased energy, "mental binges" I called them, but those were some of the most productive, best parts of my life---like the spring of 1999 when I sold my business, wrote and recorded a thematically coherent song cycle in my basement playing half a dozen instruments and doing all the engineering myself, and spending hours at the gym getting into the best shape I had been in since the age of 18. These weren't debilitating parts of my life at all. An inflated sense of self? You mean I wasn't the voice of reason in a deluded world during the years when my extreme skepticism and self-confidence made me a top-of-the-market journalist? Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences? What was wrong with buying thousands of dollars worth of audio gear, CDs, books, or the like at a pop or splurging on porn (other than incurring the wrath of my wife on both accounts)? This "hypomania" seemed to contain everything that was good about being me--sheer mental voltage, a continual quest for the new, a torrential outpouring of creative work.

Do me a favor: read the whole post and comment. Because the feedback, the reaction, is the reason for the writing. In Jason's case, as in Jerry's, and others who speak out publicly, privacy matters far less than taking another step on the journey - and that step demands some form of congress (emotional, intellectual, whatever) with other human beings. Jason asks: "Isn't the world already lousy with carping, first-person tales of depression and mania?" Well, yeah. And being the witty critic (and lapsed Catholic) that he is, Chervokas usually savages the confessional. But he's right, because the world is lousy with human beings. Weakness is not worthy of a confession; it is our lot, our existence. The road's the thing. The destination is, for all of us, roughly the same. And privacy is an abstract.

August 20, 2004

Micah Garen. I knew the name was familiar. Ever since the story broke from Iraq about the kidnapping, the name's been turning around in my head. I figured he was someone from back in the old @NY days, but as Chervokas will tell you, the memory ain't too swift. Micah Garen. How did I know that name? Then this email from Tristan Louis:

Some of you might have heard about Micah Garen's kidnapping in Iraq ... I worked with Micah at Earthweb. He's a really great guy and needs our support. I'd appreciate it if you could call your local government representatives and ask them to assist in helping with his release. Ask them to contact Jenny Fu at the State Department. She's the one monitoring the situation. Please help spread this info and sorry for the spam on this but this is truly a matter of life and death.

Wow. Now I remember. Micah Garen was involved in the early days of Earthweb, I remember him from the trade show circuit and his work with developer.com. He'd been working as an independent journalist in Iraq when he was grabbed. As Tristan says on his blog, this one hits home. Let's hope this story has a happy ending.

August 19, 2004

I was working from our Washington DC office the last two days, and it overlooks Farragut Square just a few blocks from the White House. In yesterday's stifling August haze in the capital, the Baltimore Orioles took over the park for an hours-long rally. O's announcer Jon Miller introduced players and ran a trivia contest, a band played covers of Rick James and Lynrd Skynrd (yeah, wacky), and the Orioles themselves sat in the sun and signed thousands of autographs at tables throughout the park, over the course of a couple hours. Orange reigned. All in all, a terrific rally for the Orioles - and also a blatant political ploy by their owner, Peter Angelos.

Angelos, of course, is trying to keep Major League Baseball from moving the ragamuffin Montreal Expos to Washington next season. That's why Nothern Virginia is a possibility, along with cities like Las Vegas (remember when Mays and Mantle were disciplined for taking casino money as greeters?) and, of all places, Monterrey, Mexico. But DC is, of course, the logical place. It already has a stadium downtown in RFK for the new Senators to play for a couple of years until a fancy new park is constructed. It's got history and a big tourist trade. As the Washington Post put it: "none of the other contending cities is even close, in terms of population, income or interest in the game."

Frankly, a DC team in the National League East would be very cool - imagine the Mets and Phillies taking Amtrak to the new stadium near Union Station. Think of the natural rivarly, an extension of the vicious Giants-Redskins mutual hatred fest. It just makes obvious sense. The Orioles would be fine. So move over Angelos - and make a damned decision Bud Selig. Bring back the Senators!

August 15, 2004

I'll say it straight out: I'm no fan of the so-called "Olympic movement." Maybe cynicism born of age is setting in but frankly, I find the entire spectacle infused with hypocrisy from top to bottom. When I was younger, I admit I enjoyed the performances of Mark Spitz, Dorothy Hamill, and the '80 U.S. hockey team. But I now find it more unwatchable than "Fear Factor." Today, I watched for a couple minutes as the tattoed U.S. basketball team, made up of overpaid NBA "stars" who know only the pathetic isolation style play of the post-Michael Jordan era, lost by 19 to Puerto Rico, which is really part of the United States anyway. A real blow to American national pride? Who cares? Last night, it was swimming, synchronized diving (what the...), table tennis, and road-cycling through the streets of Athens.

Look, here's the thing: I'm just not buying the "competing for flag and country" thing. I'd rather watch a mid-August Mets-Diamondbacks game. The nationalism thing is fake, simply part of NBC's billion-dollar wager on the games, which it doesn't even show live. And there was the opening ceremony with "Tapei," the name China insisted Taiwan adopt or the faux communist (really oligarchist) Asian mainland giant would keep its athletes and its marketing rights to a billion people at home. Ah, the cheers for the brave team from Iraq, fencing as their nation burns. And then there's the refusal of Iranian judo competitor Arash Miresmaeili to face an Israeli, arguing "Israel no country." Yeah, well neither is Puerto Rico or Tapei, my anti-Semitic friend. Get in there and take your judo chops like a man.

Sorry, the whole thing's a put-on - a multi-billion-dollar reality sports show and a stage for political posturing. It's no "movement" for international brotherhood (hell, the modern "movement" was founded and led by a notorious Spanish fascist - Bruce, Tom K. this is your cue), and I'm just as glad that New York is clearly in the also-ran circle for the 2012 games. Let the Iranian judo team stay home. Sure, I do admire some of the athletes, but I'm flipping over to the PGA Championship, where the golfers play for themselves and the paycheck. (I did hope the 2012 bid would force the city to solve the century-old cross-town public transportation problem in this town but apparently all it will help to do is to give the New York Jets a huge chunk of public tax money). The Olympics? Call me a crank. Who needs 'em.

August 12, 2004

In a press conference that can only be described as Pythonesque, NJ's Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey said he would resign because of a homosexual affair. With his wife standing by him, he announced: "“My truth is that I am a gay American." Now, maybe I'm missing something - but why is he resigning? He had an affair (more prominent pols have certainly survived that particular revelation). He says he's gay (again, who cares). I just don't think it adds up - in 2004, in a liberal, northeast state, I don't think resignation is the obvious choice. Might be a tad difficult for reelection perhaps, but then again, maybe not. Smells like there's something more damaging yet to be revealed, perhaps something actually related to the conduct of his office.

August 09, 2004

I notice that JetBlue has introduced free WiFi access in its JFK and Long Beach terminals, another nice touch from the country's best airline. I'm in Pasadena on a short turn-around business trip, taking the red-eye back tonight. But I'm dreading it a bit less because of the generally humane way that JetBlue treats its customers, compared to the rest of the airlines. Coming in last night, was able to watch the excellent Cubs-Giants game on the seatback TV. (Fred blogged on this last week). Anyway, I'm waiting for the first WiFi in the sky breakthrough. I know Tenzing, a company based in Seattle, is rolling out an air-ground email system - will be interesting to see how far the struggling airline industry goes to satisfy customers and what branding leaders like JetBlue will do to keep their loyal following.

August 06, 2004

Take a busy city block next to Grand Central Terminal, throw in a terror attack and continued orange-plus warnings, and what do you get? An opportunity for local restauranteurs. In a classic only-in-New York tale, the old cab stand at Grand Central off Vanderbilt has now become one of the hottest after-work watering holes in midtown. First, Michael Jordan's put out some tables and a bar. Then Cipriani. And now the elegant Campbell Apartment has set up shop - just outside the western facade of GCT, under the Park Avenue viaduct. And with Vanderbilt regularly closed to traffic and the already-humming Beer Bargarten down the block, the once-staid Vanderbilt is hopping this summer. Last night, Steve-o and I grabbed two of the Campbell's Kennedy rockers, had a few pops and watched the world go by. Hey, maybe Tom Ridge is good for business!

August 05, 2004

With campaign co-chairmen like John McCain, does President Bush really need the DNC? So far, McCain is doing far more for John Kerry inside the Bush campaign than he move have done outside of it. First, there was his immediate and loud call for the Adminstration to accept the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which along with similar refrains from Democrats and a smattering of Republicans, put Bush-Cheney back on its heels on terrorism (no easy feat). Today, McCain rips the Vietnam vets who are attacking Kerry's war record, and calls on the White House to repudiate their new ad attacking the Democratic nominee. Calling the ad, set to run in battleground states, "dishonest and dishonorable," McCain went on to say, "it was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me'' in 2000. Says the Senator:

"It reopens all the old wounds of the Vietnam War, which I spent the last 35 years trying to heal. I deplore this kind of politics. I think the ad is dishonest and dishonorable. As it is, none of these individuals served on the boat (Kerry) commanded. Many of his crew have testified to his courage under fire. I think John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam. I think George Bush served honorably in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.''

My Dirty Life & Times

Tom Watson is a journalist, author, media critic, entrepreneur and consultant who has worked at the confluence of media technology and social change for more than 20 years. This long-running blog is my personal outlet - an idiosyncratic view of the world. "My dirty life and times" is a nod to the late, great Warren Zevon because some days I feel like my shadow's casting me.